Woodbury o



(N6 Model.)

W. 0. ROGERS.- DISPLAY FRAME.

Patented July 4, 1893.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

WOODBURY 0. ROGERS, F NORlVICH, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM A.AIKEN, OF SAME PLACE.

DISPLAY-FRAME.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 500,745, dated July 4,1893. Application filed October 13, 1892. Serial No. 448,789. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WoonBURY O. Roonns, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norwich, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inDisplay-Frames, which improvements are fully set forth and described inthe following specification,referencebeing-had to the accompanying sheetof drawings.

This invention seeks to provide a display I frame, or stand,of simpleconstruction, which may clasp the article to be displayed positively,and it is specially convenient for supporting and displaying hat-s,although it may be utilized with good results for supportinga variety ofarticles as, for example, gloves, hosiery, handkerchiefs, the.

In the annexed drawings Figure 1 illustrates said stand in connectionwith a bracket-arm and as utilized to display a hat, the latter beingcut away, in part, to disclose the clamping portion of the stand. Fig. 2is an enlarged View in elevation of the said stand (about full size) andFig. 3 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 4 is a view, in elevation, of amodification of my invention, explained in detail hereinafter. I

My preferred form is that illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and is of thefollowing described construction.

Two overlapping strips to, I), of sheet metal, or other inflexiblematerial, are provided, each havingalongitudinalslotcextendingthroughout a considerable portion of the length of saidstrips, as best seen in Fig. 3. Upon the upper face of the top strip isa nut at having a rib that enters the slots 0, as indicated by dottedlines in Figs. 2 and 3, to hold the slots in alignment with each other.Co-actin g with the nutd is a screw ethat enters the not from the lowerside and, with it, serves to clamp together the two strips a b afterthey have been properly adjusted. The lower portion of screw 6 isadapted to enter a tubular section f, which latter may be supported by abracket as here shown, or by any other con venient form of stand.

The described arrangement of adjustable, inflexible, strips and themeans employed to clamp them together I do not now seek to claim as myinvention, as I am aware that they have been heretofore used inconnection with supports for displaying shoes, as fully set forth inPatent No. 388,685, issued August 28, 1888. V

The outer end of each of the strips n b terminates in a downwardly bentjaw g, to which is hinged a movable jaw g having an arm 9 extendingalong the under side of the strip a or b, as the case may be, said armforming a convenient operating handle by means of which the movable jaw(of which said handle is a part) may be readily forced open, against thetension of a springhthat is coiled around the jaw pivot and acts with aconstant tendency to close the jaws. This construction per mits thehandle g and the strip adjacent to it to be grasped between the thumband finger, as seen in Fig. 2, whenever it is desired to open the jaws.

The described jaws are intended to engage with the sweat-band of a hat,upon opposite sides thereof, as seen in Fig. 1. WVhen it is desired todisplay a hat the screw e is loosened in its nut cl, thus freeing for atime the strips or b. The complete device is then inserted in the hat,the movablejaw of one clasp is opened and slipped downward over the edgeof the sweat-band and permitted to clasp said band. The jaws at the endof the other strip are then clasped upon the opposite edge of thesweat-band. Meanwhile, the strips a b have adjusted and accommodatedthemselves to the width of the hat and it is only necessary to screw thescrew 6 firmly into its nut.

Suspension devices have been used having clasps at the ends of tape orwebbing, whose central portion has been provided with atakeup in theform of an ordinary buckle but in adjusting such a device to meet thevarying sizes of hats it is necessary to remove the same from the hat toreach and adjust the buckle before the clasps can be finally clampedupon the sweat-band, whereas in my present invention such adjustment isautomatically accomplished as the strips are drawn outward or crowdedinward during the act of clamping the clasps upon the sweatband.

My improved display stand also possesses this marked advantage: Beingmade of inflexible material the hat is held positivelyin des1redposition, whereas when a tape is em- .ployed a top-heavy hat (as forexample a tall silk hat.) will naturally tip to one side instead ofstanding erect. Very shallow hats may also be supported by my devicewhich requires, for successful operation, a depth of crown onlyalittlemore than the width of the sweat-band.

In Fig. 4 1 have illustrated a modification of my invention in which issubstituted for the strips a and b a rod 1) fitted to slide within asplit tube a, the split tube being supported by a collar 70 throughwhich is tapped a screw 6 on the end of the standard of the displaystand, said screw being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. After thedesired adjustment of the bar I)- and tube a has been made the screw 6'is turned home until its end engages the lower half of the split tubeand clamps it against the rod b, thus serving to hold the latter againstlongitudinal movement within the tube. The outer ends of the tube androd bear clasps of the form.

first above described in connection with the strips a b.

I claim as my invention As an improvement in display frames, two stripsof inflexible material longitudinally adjustable upon each other, andmeans as set forth for clamping said strips together; each of saidstrips having rigidly secured to its free end a downwardly projectingclasp, all being combined substantially as specified.

WOODBURY 0. ROGERS.

Witnesses:

FRANK H. ALLEN, EDWIN A. TRACY.

